I recently bought a 99 ss wrecked for the engine to swap it into my 1970 camaro restomod project. The engine is an lq9 bottom end (60000 mile) with ported 241 heads ls6 intake & throttlebody texas speed .600 lift cam (supposedly). The guy I bought it from said he had driven the car about 2k miles since doing the engine. He lost the cam card so I am going to pull the timing cover and cam and get the grind numbers. While I've got it tore down for that is there anything else I should check or replace while I'm in there? This is the first ls motor I've owned and am not sure on what to look for if anything. Engine ran well (could drive it much with wreck damage) with no valvetrain noise and good oil pressure. No overheating or oil leaks either.

 

It was a running engine? Hell, just throw the thing in there and run it, see what it does.... i wouldn't tear anything apart unless its a dog, if it runs good and your happy with it just run it.

 

^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^ Sounds like you got a good engine! RUN that puppy!

 

 

Thanks guys I am still going to check the cam so ill have the specs but other than that ill just leave it alone.

 

be careful with the cam retainer plate... it has a gasket built into it and if you knick it when you inspect, you could wind up with low oil pressure

 

thanks I will pay attention to that. Should I just replace the gasket while I'm there?

 

Many recommend that. I just went ahead and replaced mine because it is a hassle to get to with the engine in the car and it's good piece of mind.

 

You will have to replace the whole cam retainer plate, the gasket/seal is made to the plate.

 

Ok thanks

 

I got the engine out tonight. May be a dumb question but can you see the back of the cam if you remove the rear cover that holds the rear main seal. Texas speed rep said there cams are stamped or etched on the back .